Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Google Plus

If the new "Plus One" button wasn't a tip-off, Google just launched their new, invitation-only social networking service: Google Plus. With Facebook already at 500 million members, however, can Google really hope to break into this market? Especially with a service they aren't letting people sign up for?

Google's Plus-One button, available for Google Account users

Google Plus (mobile)

Apparently, they think so. The exclusivity associated with Google Plus may serve to build interest before the public launch, and it would certainly give the search giant plenty of time to test, tweak, and touch up the final product. A few main features stand above anything Facebook offers, however, including:

Video chat (already integrated into Gmail)

Circles, which allow you to easily group your friends and share everything you post with the right groups (a top concern for Facebook users, despite a poorly-designed Groups feature)

Delete permanently...even off of their servers (the biggest scare about Facebook is that you "can't" delete your information)

Of course, the new service is starting with few members, and not many people are going to be willing to jump ship from the networking site they've spent untold hours filling with photos, statuses, and friendships. Besides, Facebook has a head start on integration into other sites: You can sign into CNN with your Facebook profile to leave comments, or click "Like" buttons virtually everywhere on the web. Google's competing "+1" button, which is supposed to let you know when friends "plus-one" sites in your search results, may improve the search engine, but will struggle to outdo "Like," at least initially.

Let's not forget, Google is playing a lot of games right now...it's going to be hard to stay ahead in all of them. After all, Google Buzz was something of a complete failure. And right now, Google competes in the following markets, and more:

Besides, from an environmentally-friendly point of view, they're doing way better than Facebook already. After spending $168 billion on a new solar field in the Mojave Desert and another $100 million on a wind farm, Google proposes to help the U.S. off fossil fuels take the U.S. off fossil fuels by 2030. Already, their servers are powered with more renewable resources than Facebook ever dreamed of. So until Zuckerberg figures out how to unfriend coal, maybe Google's on to something.

So who knows? Maybe they can steal back the #1 site slot from Facebook. But if their original competition was Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL, they're doing a pretty good job, for a garage-born start-up from Menlo Park.